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Jennifer's Story This is the story of my cat, Jennifer, who lived a long and wonderful life of 18-1/2 years. I’d had Jennifer since she was a kitten and was faithful about getting her shots and checkups every year. She had a pretty healthy life except for an occasional UTI every few years or so. She was an outdoor kitty during the day in her younger years but as she got older and since I lived in a wooded area and we’d had encounters with a Fisher Cat, she was only allowed outside when one of us was around. Attached are two articles about Fisher Cats: http://www.eagletribune.com/news/stories/20000904/NH_001.htm and http://gorp.away.com/gorp/activity/wildlife/expert/exp110100.htm.October 2000I noticed something was wrong when Jennifer started limping one day. I looked underneath on her left paw and there was a tiny growth about the size of a pinhead that felt sticky. The vet thought it was a cyst and had given me some bacitracyn ointment which I applied faithfully every day.October 15, 2001After a year had passed it had grown to about the size of half of my little fingernail and was now oozing blood and fluid. Jennifer’s vet said he would need to do surgery to remove it and then do a biopsy. So he did some bloodwork and scheduled her for surgery in a week’s time.October 22, 2001The vet said the surgery was successful and he felt he had been able to remove the basil cell carcinoma. Both the vet and I were amazed at how well she did for 17 years old. I brought her home the same day and took a few days off work to take care of her. She didn’t even try to pull the stitches out!December 10, 2001Had to bring Jennifer back to the vets as she had urinated outside her litter box and there was a some blood in her urine, which is her way of telling me something is wrong. The vet gave her some antibiotics which did clear it up.January 21, 2002I noticed that Jennifer was starting to limp again so I checked the same paw she’d had surgery on and a new growth had appeared this time growing quite rapidly. I made an appointment that day to see her vet. He said the only thing he could do was to amputate the two joints that the basil cell carcinoma was located between. He indicated the risks of anesthesia at Jennifer’s age but he felt that was the only way to eradicate this. I said I’d think it over and get back to him. I felt so bad for her, I wondered if I was doing the right thing. The vet did some more pre-surgery bloodwork and said all her vitals were fine. So I decided that I had to at least give Jennifer a chance. I’m sure it was painful for her to walk with that growth underneath her paw!February 4, 2002Jennifer came through with flying colors again! Her leg was in a cast all the way up to her torso. I could tell she really didn’t like it as she kept flicking her leg when she walked. But the vet said he really felt he’d gotten the entire thing this time. The vet wanted to keep her overnight but I insisted on taking her home as she’d never had to stay overnight or be in a kennel since we’d gotten her fixed as a kitten. So I took a few days off from work to take care of her.April 2, 2002Jennifer had another accident outside the litter box and the vet put her on antibiotics again. The vet did a renal screen and put her on Baytril 22.1 mg. He was not sure if it was kidney failure or just kidney infection as her kidney levels were very severe and wanted to see Jennifer back in a week to do another renal screen. If it was kidney failure then the antibiotics would not work he said.I also wondered if it was the food I was feeding her as I’d heard that some pet food companies actually grind everything, including the bones, into their products. These tiny particles of bone can inflame the bladder I read somewhere. I was giving her Old Mother Hubbard’s Natural and Wellness Cat Food. I started feeding her canned IAMS instead which I had heard was about the best thing you could feed a cat. At the time I had no idea that her urinary problems could be a result of hyperthyroidism and lead to hepatic lipidosis. For any of you interested, most of the information I gathered came from the following webpage: http://www.vetinfo4cats.com . April 8, 2002The vet did another renal screen. Jennifer’s infection had cleared up so I was relieved that it wasn’t kidney failure!May 3, 2002Things seemed to be going pretty well this Spring. Jennifer had not had another infection and both of us were looking forward to the warmer weather coming.One thing I hadn’t mentioned and I don’t know if it even relates to this. We have well water and one day after hearing that one of our neighbor’s uphill from us hadn’t had a working septic system in three years, I decided to have our well water tested. It tested positive for coliform and we were advised not to drink the water at all. It took three times to shock the system until it was finally cleared of total coliform. I tested the water again two months later and the coliform had returned. Jennifer had this habit of wanting to drink water out of the bathtub. Every morning she would follow me into the bathroom and after my shower I’d turn the faucet on and leave a little cold water in the bottom of the tub for her. She used to howl if I’d forget to leave it in there! She hardly ever drank out of her water bowl if she knew there was anything upstairs in the tub! When I found out that our water was contaminated I stopped leaving her water in the tub and bought bottled water for all of us to drink. I didn’t want to take any chances especially with her recurrent kidney infections. I’d advise anyone who has well water to get it tested every year. Coliform counts can increase due to drought conditions. I don’t know if it was the cause of Jennifer’s kidney problems but I didn’t want to take any chances. June 11, 2002Just finished e-mailing Dan on Jennifer’s status. Jennifer's doing fantastic from this surgery. You'd never know she'd had it! She has however, recently gotten over another kidney infection, which the vet said is caused when they get constipated and things back up into the urinary tract system. But she seems to be doing fine. Of course, she'll be 18 years old on May 17th, things are bound to happen with old age!July 24, 2002Jennifer started exhibiting problems again with her kidneys so I took her to the vet again. He did fecal and urinalysis tests as I had seen blood in both her feces and urine this time. Sure enough, she had another infection so the vet put her on Baytril. Jennifer was also due for her yearly rabies, feline leukemia and distemper shots. The vet had done what is called a “titer” test to see how much of the feline leukemia and distemper vaccine were still in her system. She had enough in her system so I decided to only have the rabies vaccination done.August 28, 2002We found out last night that Jennifer has a mass on her left shoulder so it's only a matter of time before we have to put her to rest. It's the same leg that she had the basil cell carcinoma on and the vet seems to think it had already been there even before her two surgeries. I noticed about a week before that her left leg looked swollen and she had started to walk funny. I checked her paw but there was no sign of the basil cell carcinoma. I don't know how much time she has. They did blood work and everything was fine except that her liver enzyme levels were low and she was dehydrated. She does have blood in her urine so they gave me 10 days worth of antibiotics and kept her for the day to hydrate her. At 18 years old, I don't want to do any drastic surgery or biopsy to try to save her as it would only prolong her pain. I’m just saying prayers that she doesn't have pain. I don't want her to suffer. So this long weekend I'm going to spend time with her, cuddle with her, smell her. You’re probably wondering what I mean by smell her. Jennifer has never had what I call an odor like some cats, especially outdoor cats. Maybe it’s the hand lotion I use but she always has had a sweet clean smell about her. Jennifer also has the softest fur? It’s as soft as a rabbit! Everyone who meets her says that! I speak to my regular vet tomorrow to see what he suggests to make sure she isn't in any pain. I'm feeding her whatever she wants whenever she wants.Dan and I have been e-mailing back and forth and he has asked me to write Jennifer’s story. I think in time I will write something, as at least I had her another year after surgery, but right now I can’t think of doing anything else but making her last few weeks comfortable. August 29, 2002I had been looking on the Vetinfo webpage and read that some veterinarians will prescribe Prednisone to reduce the swelling of tumors. My regular vet wasn’t around so I asked his associate about using it, but she said that wasn't an option as I guess it masks things. I just don't want her to be in pain. The mass is quite large internally they said so I'm not sure how long she has. Jennifer has also been noticibly losing weight and her appetite has decreased.September 1, 2002Jennifer took a minute amount of liquid chicken and tuna, etc. on Saturday. I’ve been pureeing anything I think she’ll eat. I called the vet this a.m. but he's not around. She's still cuddling, purring, and jumping up on the couch and bed even though she's starving, and she cries at me for food but would not touch it on Saturday.Today I bought some Pounce treats and she gobbled up 6 like there was no tomorrow!!!! I also bought some IAMS Kitten food, small cans of chicken and fish, along with an eyedropper and will try those diluted later. I don't want her belly to get upset so I'll try to give her more Pounce in an hour or so. Like Dan said on his webpage, when do you give up and put them to rest? We'll see how she does the rest of the day. It's a holiday weekend but my regular vet is on call tomorrow so maybe he'll see her and recommend something. Dan e-mailed me back and suggested I syringe feed. He also reminded me about the Nutri-Cal, high cal supplement. If I can get a few syringes of that down or about 2 tbl. it will help a lot he said. September 2, 2002Just got off the phone with the vet and he reassured me that I'm doing everything right, as long as she's not in any pain to go ahead with what I'm doing. He told me to put the Nutra-Cal in the liquid food and then she'll get more calories. I was able to give her 8 (5ml) of food this a.m., she even drank some out of the bowl. Then she was howling around 8am, wanting to go out in the rain (she likes to drink the water and at this point what does it matter?) so I let her out for about 10 minutes, towelled her dry but she kept howling. Seems she can't get enough water. I don't know if hyperthyroidism does that or not. So I used my syringe and gave her 20ml of water and she hasn't howled since. My only concern is when I go back to work tomorrow. I'll just have to make sure I give her enough water and food to get her through the day as I don't return home till 6pm as I work out of town. We'll see what happens.In addition to the cancer (we're just assuming because of the tumor but it's pretty likely based on what I went through last year) and hyperthyroidism she has hepatic lipidosis. If you look at this web address it explains how they want to eat but can't: http://www.vetinfo4cats.com/chepatic.html. Unfortunately, the signs were there but I never noticed: yellowing inside the ears instead of pinkish color and head pressing (although she has always done that to get our attention, so I'm not sure if this pertains to her). I bought other treats today, Liver Pounce (ironically!) and Friskies Chicken Treats She's eaten about a dozen of each today. She doesn't seem to go for the seafood ones I bought so I'll pass them on to my friends with cats. She likes the soft treats as at her age I'm sure the crunchy treats are too hard for her to chew. I figure if I can get one can of diluted kitten food into her a day (although it's only the 3 oz size) I'm doing good. She's such a funny cat! I had a teacup with bottled water in it (about 1/3 cup) and she drank pretty much all of it. Of course I had to sit there and hold it at an angle for her. Otherwise she'd take her paw and try to knock it over! She went outside today on our porch (I put a kiddie gate up so she can't get down) and she stayed out there a while after the rain stopped. We'll see how tomorrow goes while I'm at work. Good news! She urinated this evening and also had a bowel movement. I think that's why she was howling this morning. I found a present near the litter box! September 3, 2002Jennifer had A&A today (Attitude and Appetite, or is it Appetite and Attitude?). I had been feeding her through a syringe yesterday with pretty good success. This morning I was able to get 12 (5ml) of food syringed into her at hourly intervals (5am, 6am and 7am) before I left for work. I left some cat treats in a bowl and also 7ml of "slurry". She did eat some of it I noticed and a couple of cat treats were missing (4). Today we picked up some Science Diet A/D for Ailing Cats and also some Nutra Cal. When I came home she was all over me to eat, so just for the heck of it I thought I'd open the A/D and see what she'd do. She ate 1/3 - 1/2 a can of the Science Diet tonight. She also had a bowel movement today (although it was a little greenish) and is still urinating so I’m relieved. Not that I'm expecting her to get better, but at least I don't have to syringe feed her as much for now. It can be pretty stressful as you well know!September 4, 2002I went out and bought four more cans of the Science Diet A/D this morning. I mixed some of the Nutra Cal in it also. She's fighting me on the antibiotics so the vet said to crush them up and put it in a little food. I tried that but she seemed to know so I can either dilute it with water and syringe it in her or get some liquid antibiotics. We'll see how it goes.Jennifer only ate about two tablespoons full this afternoon. She fought me on her antibiotic so I called the vet who said to crush it and put it in a little food. I did but most of it had dissolved in her mouth and my hand so I'm not sure if she got much. This afternoon I actually hand fed a tablespoon to her and she at it all. I then put another tablespoon in her bowl along with a drop of the Nutra-Cal with the crushed antibiotic and hopefully she'll eat that later. She's drinking and urinating, but no bowel movement today. I thought I was going to have to syringe feed her but hopefully she'll eat this. She did eat a whole can between last night and this morning so I'll wait and see how it goes tomorrow. We had steak for dinner tonight and she wanted some so I chopped up a small piece and she ate most of it. Tried to give her the antibiotics through a syringe with water. She started foaming at the mouth afterwards. I realized that part of it hadn't dissolved so I opened her mouth and managed to get it to the back of her throat but she's not happy. Will have to talk to the vet tomorrow to see if I can get some liquid antibiotics. September 5, 2002Today Jennifer ate almost a half can of the Wellness cat food. She seemed to be getting tired of the Science Diet A/D so thought I'd try the other brand again and it worked! She urinated twice in the litter box, no bowel movement yet, and was eating more at 5pm and drinking water! I’m sure she’s going to have good days and bad days.We put a comforter on the floor as she was having difficulty jumping up onto the bed and seemed to prefer to sleep on the cool floor at night. We left a chair at the end of the bed in case she wanted to jump up. September 6, 2002Jennifer did not touch the Wellness food this morning. I tried giving her IAMS Kitten food but she only took a few bites. I guess I'm going to have to syringe feed her tonight. She did have a good bowel movement so she must be getting something in her stomach!September 7, 2002I had to give Jennifer syringe feedings of the Science Diet and Nutra-Cal as she hadn't eaten at all the day before. I gave her 10 syringes of about 6ml each and then 5 more at 3 a.m. as she woke me up crying for food. This morning she ate about a 1/4 can of the Wellness Turkey but I still gave her five full syringes of the slurry. It appears that if I get a little food into her then she will eat on her own. She fought me again on the last antibiotic so when she does this it usually means she is feeling better from the bladder infection or she could be tired of fighting the cancer.September 8, 2002Unfortunately today all the signs are there. I was lucky to get three syringes into her at 9 a.m., two at noon, three and six p.m. She did eat about a dozen liver treats this a.m., she's urinating in the litter box and did a small bowel movement. But she's not purring and has been avoiding us most of the day. I'm going to try to give her some more slurry tonight, but every time I tried today she'd put her paw up to my hand as if to say enough is enough. She'd also try to lock her jaw on me. She drank some tuna juice but not enough to fill her belly. I think tomorrow morning I'll call the vet and put her to rest. I don't want to put her through the stress of this and it's also taking it's toll on me and I think she realizes it too. This morning I dreaded getting up, for some reason I sort of knew our time together was coming to an end. Last night I laid on her comforter with her for about an hour and she started purring. It was so difficult to go to bed tonight knowing what I had to do tomorrow.September 9, 2002We brought Jennifer to the Vet this morning around 11:00 a.m. She would not eat anything this morning, would not let me syringe feed her. I rode with her in the back seat of the car. I put her on her comforter and she just laid there quietly as if she knew her time had come. She didn’t cry out or fight me when I carried her into the vet’s office. Even the vet said she was so calm, never even cried out or fought her as she applied the tourniquet to shave her little paw. I just patted her and told her how much I loved her as the vet euthanized her. She stretched out and laid her little head down. I had Jen cremated and placed her on the mantle next to her sister, Samantha.I shall truly miss her. She was a wonderful cat for those of you who never knew her. I had her for 18 yrs. of her life. She also had several alias; “Jenny-Poo”, “Poo-Bear”, “Bear” and “Jenny”. She was so cuddly, almost like a Ragdoll cat. She'd been with me through thick and thin, through the "great escape from Connecticut" and was so laid back that I sometimes thought she was more dog than cat. She let me do anything to her, clip her nails, brush her, etc. and never complained. The only thing she never liked was being on a harness and had become "Houdini" many times, managing to get out of it somehow and run off. I've attached some pictures for those of you who never met her. Some of these include her sister, Samantha, who passed on almost 7 years ago. Jennifer is the one with the big eyes, white bib and boots, the one on the right. After reading some of the other stories of cats who also had the SCC, I wonder sometimes if giving Jennifer the feline leukemia shots all those years may have contributed to her cancer. Her sister, Samantha had also died 7 years ago of cancer. She had a large inoperable growth between her small and large intestines. Maybe in time, through more research, they’ll be able to determine what causes SCC. My veterinarian was terrific through all this also. He even gave me his home telephone number in case I had any questions or concerns. The office sent me a beautiful note of condolence after Jennifer passed on which I wanted to share. It took love and great courage to make your very difficult decision of not letting Jennifer suffer needlessly, but that doesn’t lessen the pain and grief that you feel at the loss of your very special companion. As time passes and the pain eases, I hope that good memories of the times you shared together will help to fill the emptiness for you. We understand your loss and extend our sympathy to you.” Every time I had to bring Jennifer in for an appointment, the girls in the front office always doted over her. I’m glad she was so loved. I want to thank Dan for his support through all this. It’s so helpful when someone you know has gone through this also. I also want to thank all of those people who contributed their stories to Dan’s webpage. It has given me a lot of insight. I have not started looking for another cat(s) yet. Somehow I’m still not ready to go looking for a “ginger cat” like my Jennifer. Even writing Jennifer’s story at this time was hard for me. I know cats can’t live forever, but when you’ve had a cat for that many years it’s like losing a family member. But I know I did the best I could for her so my mind is at ease. Deb |
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| Samantha left, Jennifer right |